The Issues Of Prosecutorial Supervision Over The Legality Of The Application Of Imprisonment

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the practical problems of prosecutorial supervision over the legality of the application of imprisonment (hereinafter also referred to as “Punishment”) and the ways to solve these problems. Although the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Prosecutor’s Office” and the Penitentiary Code of the Republic of Armenia define relevant legal regulations on prosecutorial supervision over the legality of the punishments’ application and other coercive measures, in our opinion, the mentioned legal regulations are not consistent with the logic, essence and meaning of the powers of the Prosecutor’s Office stipulated in point 5, part 2 of Article 176 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. By virtue of the aforementioned constitutional jurisdiction, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter also referred to as the “Prosecutor’s Office”) is authorized to oversee the legality of the punishments’ application and other coercive measures, which implies that the Prosecutor’s Office must be empowered to apply measures of direct prosecutorial influence when exercising these powers; meanwhile, according to the current legislation, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter also referred to as the “Prosecutor’s Office”) performs the role of an observer and, upon discovering a legal act that contradicts the legislation, does not abolish it, but files a motion to the body executing the sentence to review the act that contradicts the legislation, or files such a motion after suspension of the said act. It is noteworthy that, according to the position of the Prosecutor’s Office, the act that contradicts the legislation may remain unchanged as a result of the final review in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation, and the Prosecutor’s Office is not given the legal opportunity to make the legality of such a decision subject to judicial review. The paper addressed the issues of prosecutorial supervision over the legality of punishments and other means of coercion, in the form of imprisonment, and the ways of solving these problems were considered”